Templates
 

I am still in the process of clearing out my hard drive and I have a quick question about templates ~
Do you delete them after you use them?

I delete every template I use except the SSD ones. If it were a freebie, though, it's gone.. If I bought it, I keep it :)

It depends. Cindy's are so diverse that I always keep the ones I love; they are easy to flip or shrink or whatever and use again.

I only keep on my computer the ones I haven't used mostly, but I have everything backed up to my EHD.

Mostly yes. I used to keep them all, but then realized I was collecting them faster than I was using them and therefore didn't need to reuse them. Purchased ones though I will keep and ornate ones (lots of layering or fancy shapes) I keep.

But here's the kicker....the ones you save....make sure they are TIFFs not PSDs. I had converted all my LOs to TIFFs a while back but didn't do my templates. Just changed them all and wow what a difference in size!!!

I delete most freebies, but keep the purchased ones, too.

If I've used it and it's not one that looks like I could flip or whatever and use again, I definitely delete it. Any template I keep, I keep in TIFF format only. I love that Darcy gives the option of downloading just the TIFF or just the PSD with her templates!!

Rarely ... I find that I will use them more than once ... templates are so versatile ... you can change them up multiple times!

I keep them. I'm obsessed with templates, and I use them more than once, so they always stay.

Oh I keep them. I have a hoarding problem. :D

Can I nominate you for Hoarders?

I keep most of them. I only download ones that I know I will use and that I love especially if I have paid for them. I mean you can add layers/delete layers/rotate the layout/flip the layout...etc. So if I use it more then once it can always look completely different then a layout I have already done.

I've kept mine as well.. but I'm wondering... what is the best way to organize these to be able to find & use later?

Depends on how you scrap. I recently started a "Templates" folder within my main SSD folder. Now, all SSD templates go in there. Except for Janet, she has her own designer folder. I found that I would buy templates from Julie, or Traci, or Darcy, and then I would forget about them. So the main templates folder keeps everything together so that I can pick and choose and browse through them all together.

I also have a templates folder in my larger, main digiscrap supplies folder. So all "outside" templates go in there. But I've pretty much stopped buying templates from anywhere other than here, since all our ladies do such a great job here.

Some people split their templates into folders for how many photos they hold. So a folder for 1 photo temps, one for 2 photo temps, etc.

This is how I do it... and I have a folder for 2-pagers... I pretty much only keep the SSD ones and a few outside ones that I bought.

I usually keep the template packs, or other single ones that I love. If I just know I'm not going to use it again, or if it was a freebie, I trash them.

I keep them, but EHD still has tons of space, so I don't feel the need.

I delete them, except my own ;) simply because I don't re use them

I hoard everything, lol ...so I have almost everything I've ever acquired. Some are only on my EHD. If I've already used it, I wouldn't be completely devastated if my EHD crapped out.

::hoarder::

:o...what is TIFF?

and I belong in the horder category too!!! LOL

I'm a hoarder too.

A TIFF is a different file format. A PSD is a layered file which is proprietory to Photoshop.
A TIFF is a layered file format that is an open standard and can be used by other applications. Photoshop can open and save TIFF's.

TIFF's can be compressed and therefore the file size is smaller than PSD's.

I save all my layouts to TIFF because of this reason. I also convert any PSD template I get to TIFF. I save with image compression LZW and layer compression ZIP.

To save as a TIFF just choose it as the file type option when saving.

I would note though that TIFF's do take slightly longer to load and save.

I'm a hoarder, too. I really need to delete stuff though as my EHD is full, and my laptop HD's are both nearly full! :thumbdown:

Sure, but they can only look at my hard drive. :blink:

Yep that is true, but it makes it easier to be a hoarder if you can keep more right LOL! I think it takes longer because it has to zip/unzip when opening and saving.

I used to be a complete hoarder, but after a computer crash, I've been cleaning house lately. And after 5 years of hoarding...I think I can let go of a few right? Maybe...possibly...

This part is SO important when saving to a Tiff file. You have a choice when you are saving, and you have to make sure you choose these options. Several template designers were not saving them correctly (they were using their computers default settings) and their files were 10 times the size of psd files. I did contact the ones I knew that were doing them wrong, and I think they've corrected it. If you know the designer offers it in Tiff, just check the file size. A normal TIFF should be under 5mb...

Darcy ALWAYS has them correct, so you can just download her TIFF's and not worry about it!!

I like having them as TIFFs because I can see what they look like on my computer without opening them up in CS. I change all of La's LUIY to TIFF as soon as I get them and then delete the PSD's. It makes it so much easier when I want to use them.

And as for deleting them, if I haven't used them and they aren't my style, I'll delete. If I used them and liked them, I'll save them. I'm not against using the same template twice. I'll flip it, rotate it, or just use it again the same way. I have a HUGE folder on my ehd full of templates!

I tag mine in ACDSee by template then # of picture layers